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Cucumber Yogurt Salad With Dill, Sour Cherries and Rose Petals

5.0(374)

Crunchy cucumber, cool yogurt and the surprise of tart cherries make this salad alluring, especially when paired with a hot, savory stew, soup or tagine. During Ramadan, the month of the year when observant Muslims fast during daylight hours, it is delicious for iftar, the meal that breaks the fast at sunset. Try it with harira, the traditional Moroccan iftar dish: a fragrant lamb-tomato soup with chickpeas, lentils and vermicelli. Add a pretty bowl of dates — the food Muslims traditionally eat first to break the fast — and the meal is complete. Both spice and craft shops sell food-grade dried rose petals, or you can make your own by hanging a bouquet of (organically raised) roses upside down to dry.

by Julia Moskin

Open original recipe

Easy, Quick, Side Dish

Servings

(6–8)

Total time

15 min

Calories / serving

132 kcal

Ingredients (12)

serves

2 garlic cloves, finely grated or mincedgarlic
2 cups thick or Greek-style yogurtyogurt
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juicelemon-juice
1 tablespoon fresh dill, roughly chopped, more for garnishdill
1 1/2 teaspoons dried mintmint
5 small Persian cucumbers, scrubbed and dicedcucumber
Sea saltsalt
1/2 cup finely chopped pistachiospistachio
1 1/2 teaspoons dried rose petals, crushed
3 tablespoons dried sour cherries, coarsely choppedsour-cherry
Chopped fresh mint, for garnishmint
Extra-virgin olive oil, for garnisholive-oil

Instructions (2 steps)

01In a medium bowl, whisk together the garlic with the yogurt, lemon juice, dill and dried mint. Fold in the cucumbers and season with salt to taste.
02Spoon into a serving bowl and garnish with the pistachios, rose petals, dried cherries, fresh mint and dill leaves. Drizzle with a generous amount of olive oil and serve immediately.